A tale: another epic story
by Niksa
Summary: What if your life had been a prelude, and all the previos wars had come to mean nothing? The defender has lost her grip on the shield, the warriors are unable to fight. A clash between flesh and spirit, mortals & immortals, protectors and protected. With
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The boundaries between dymensions were so flexible (well, at least, they were when one had powers like hers), that she could easily understand that some people lost their grip on them, The problem with those who ended lost in their own worlds was that the contours of realities were diffuse; without a strong sense of self, a person could lose its essence. Of course, it would not be her case… though of course, few humans were, at the same time, gods.

She had finally made a choice, and had left her exausted, wounded body behind; but she was aware of that odd duality in her soul, wich persisted even beyoud the realm of Earth. The ancestral part of her knew that in all of her incarnations, never had the fusion with a mortal reached such depth. Perhaps it was due to the girl's own pride and superiority.

Very appropiate for a godess. Not to mention that gods are the most impulsive and stubborn, vengeful, childlike beings.

Oh, but they had both learned to bow their heads. Yet, lately they had had a lot of that.

The young girl had eventually learned to coexist with that thing that opressed and expanded her, an energy that made her feel connected to the very core of life. But it strenghened her feeling of loneliness.

...until he came back.

He whom had always acceptad her as she was, for what she was; he censored her when it was necessary, he teased her, he dared her, he… moved her. He made her see herself, he made her want to be better, to make him smile. Yet she enjoyed also seeing the passion with which he threw himself into helpless battles for her. She was partly delighted by his despair, by his madness, by his heroic frenzy, by his devotion to her.

Seiya.

The double soul hated herself for her vanity, for her eagerness to be the object of his sacrifice. Sometimes she saw herself as the priestess who slayed a lamb's throat.

Actually, that she had poured the blood of a whole herd. True, few of the members of the flock were true lambs, but still... the blood was poured for her, on her, over her.

Godess or not, there were things that she couldn't deal with. Men who came back from death to die again, for her once more; immortal guardians devoted to her; childeren beating giants, David and Goliat in a crueller tale. This war had taken more of her, and more of her saints than any other.

Suffering was common to mankind, but it was something that one could not get used to, in particular, when you were imortal.

So, what is left when, after agains all odds, Nike smiled at her once more and she felt nothing but emptiness and pain?

She had never felt more like a monster. She though of her saints, being born into the world with pain, and living brief, tortured existences which ended in even more suffering, for her, always for her. Time after time. Men signaled by light and blood, destined to shine for a second and extinguish forever, drowned in a scarlet ocean.

They belonged to her, but she offered nothing but a bitter sip of all the things that life could offer. Never happiness, never joy... never love? Did they truly love her?

She, the vampire who had taken so many lives for herself, had now grown to love them (not care for them, not pity them, but truly love them), and each War the feeling became more uncountrolable. She, Wisdom and Goodness, had lost her mind when she saw that this time, when the most amazing sacrifices had been made in her name, had not been able to save a sigle one of them.

She was not different from a vulture, feasting on fallen human souls.

Ah, but not this time. Not these ones. Not Seiya, Hyoga, Shiryiu, Shun, Ikki… and her Gold Saints… thay hadn't even get to know her, and yet…

When she saw them falling, lost in the Realm of the Dead, she lost her grip on her dignity, on her mind, on her control. She had howled like a broken beast, and had departed. If she had to pay, so be it.

Eternity would await for her to recover.

Because this time, victory had to be theirs, as well. She would bring them back, even if she had to drain her own soul to restore the life into their bodies and souls. If she was to be emptied...

So be it.

Mount Olympus took shape in front of her eyes, a gigantic peak of stone, carved by immemorial times, and which was still to last for all eternity. It was, as usual, covered by a golden haze containing milions of thoughts, voices and whispers, of those mortals loved by the gods.

Weary after the interdimensional journey, Athena let herself be numbed by the mystique of the place which she called home and yet had always been so alien to her. Slowly, she recovered her true shape, the one of a tall, impressive woman; her age reflected only in her steely, grey eyes, and never touching the tense, soft skin or the straight hair.

After she got used to being herself again, she coulnd't but notice Saori was still entwined with her, and she understood that as long as her mortal body lived, the girl would accompany her wherever they went. And what's more, even there, in the gods's dwelling place, the girl kept her own will and voice in the mind that both shared.

She expanded her aura, revealing her presence and rejecting at the same time all those energies that were trying to reach her, to question her, to offer their sympathies. She remained isolated, until she found the unmisteakable energy she had been looking for. Aware of the importance of each passing second, she revealed the urgency of her situation, and requested for an audience in the Council Chamber with the Highest God of Olympus.

In private.

The silent answer, spoken directly to her cosmo, told her she would be granted her request.

Immediately.

"Come in, Athena, there is noone here."

She walked past the columns and the carvings, along those ancestral walls, until she got to that large circular space and its eleven chairs. One of them, with her name on it.

And a throne, straigh ahead, and above them all.

"Father..."

He stood up and walked up to her, to kiss her cheek. Athena had never feared him, but still she had never seen such an imposing energy. From the ebony of his eyes, to the deepest corner of his soul, Zeus seemed to have been born to rule.

That is, to be obeyed.

She let herself be held by those arms, arms perfectly capable of crushing the worlds, throw roaring lightnings and commit countless unfaithful caresses. She observed the rounded glass vault on the roof, through which she could see the Via Lactea, the path of the gods, surrounded by an indigo halo. She allowed him to push her back and watch her.

She looked into his eyes, those black suns impossible to read, which seemed to irradiate an irresistible vitality as they absorbed all the things around him, incorporating them to his own glare.

She withstood that inspection with her eyes steadily laid on his, impasible. She knew that among all the living creatures, she was one of the few which could have some influence on him. She had always done her own will, without a single word of reproach from him.

But to ask something from him…

"You have changed, my beloved Gray eyes. What have you found down there on Earth that has kept you so long from your family?"

...would always had a price.

He could see the future, almost as clearly as Apolo himself could; but for the great Zeus, not even the past held secrets.

Nothing went unseen by the eyes of the sky.

"You know I never come when I'm living as a mortal" she replied calmly.

"I know that well, Gray eyes. But, honestly, showing up here fused with your incarnation's soul is really distasteful" That ironic glare in his eyes. When had he cared about dignity, when it came to mixing with humans? Who had turned into a bull just to get under a girl's pants (well, under her skirt, actually).

Saori twisted in the endless aura of the goddess, but cunning as she was, she remained silent and determied to leave the deities to deal with each other.

Athena mimicked her, and simply gave her father one of those glances that made the God of Heaven doubtful, for a brief instant, about his condition of master of the universe. That daughter of his was the one to whom he felt drown to the most, and the one who made him most worried. She had this ancestral vibe that gods, capricious creatuers who knew only self - indulgence, and to "live the moment", rarely possesed.

He regained his self – control immediately.

"If you show up like this, only to talk to me, it must be something of importance."

She knew it was just a game, because nothing escaped his eyes; but she was determined to refrain her impatience and follow the protocole.

"Hades has been defeated."

"It has happened before."

"But this time it's gone too far..."

His eyebrow jumped up "Why?"

How could she explain it to him? "So many humans have died..."

She felt insecure. ¿How could he understand what she had found this time, the treasure which was about to vanish, to be lost forever?

Zeus sat back on his throne, but his attention was still focused on his daughter. Humans died all the time; and even more around her, so that last phrase made no sense at alll. She knew her fight was meant for the survival of the most, and not for the salvation of them all.

But the look on those grey eyes was the toughest and shiniest that he had ever seen. Zeus understood then that something had broken in there; something had altered the inalterable essence of a goddess, and that was disquieting. Gods were fixed, unchangeable creatures, with a defined and simple, however twisted, personality; that was what defined both them and the things under their power. But if there really was a breaking point, even for them… he was not worried about himself, but what if the others _did_ have a limit?

"I came here to ask for your help." Athena wanted her father's attention back on her.

Silence.

And the worse was still to come.

"I want to take back my saints."

He leaned forward, apparently calmed, laying his elbows on his knees. Oh, the power he had.

"Why would you want something like that?" Despite his calmed attitude, he was angered. How did she dare to ask him that, right after sealing his brother again, like a rat in a cage!

"You know that cannot be. You have enslaved, once again, the only one with power to grant you that maddened whish, but yet, for what! They are not meant to last; they are not meant to return!"

She knew she had that coming. She knew he could play with humans, he could like them, love them, lust them and hate them, but he didn't really need them. He just used them and then dropped the empty carcasses. Almighty creatures were bound to loneliness, and this particular one, seemed pretty comfortable with his situation.

But her anger was not minor. Centuries turned into millenia, and still she was the only one among her kind who still bothered to _really_ mingle with humans.

But that was the point, wasn't it? In their eyes, she was diminishing herself. What she did was degrading, inhabiting frail bodies like that, and even worse, not for her pleasure, but to get involved, to learn, to watch and mostly... to feel.

They did not know that life in Olympus was like a water coloured picture for her, motionless and devoid, after spending a life as a human. Mankind was a palpitating kin, so low as it was high, and after playing by their ways, after seeing them grow by her side, she couldn't but wish to spend more time with them.

She listened to her father's speech, his rambling on subjects like the difference between the essences, and how destructive it was for immortals to love creatures which are condemned to die; but she was growing more and more desperate. He did not know that she wished for the battles; that the 243 years between them were like a bad - syntonised dream in which nothing had taste or sound. He did not know the guilt she felt when thinking like that, how guilty she felt for being indiferent to her family, and guilty for keep going with this pointless drama play. The wars, the cruel, bloody wars which changed, in the end, nothing.

Her cosmo started to stir. Saori startled, and turned to the godess. There were so many things she was tired of, so many things that had lost their meaning, that she wanted to scream. She held back her cosmo, and imprisoned it within her body.

Zeus's voice trailed off, for his daughter was going under a strange methamorphosis. Deep purple circles started to surround her eyes; the proud shoulders fell froward, crippled and tired; blood smeared her face, her hands, her chest. The imaculate robes she had been wearing had turned into a rag, grey and mudstained, and her feet were bare and torn.

This was unexpected. She was showing him her soul, her feelings, in the most vivid way there could be. She was cornering him: either he granted her wish, or he took the blame for her pain.

But when he looked into her eyes, he saw, in between her rage, despair and pain, the same iron determination of the Owl.

"This is serious, father. There is no turning back. I need them to come back, and I will tear my soul to take them with me, if necessary."

She did not know what she was doing, Zeus thought. Yet he knew that his battle was lost already, that his daughter was changed, for good or for worse; this had been her fate perhaps since the very moment she laid her eyes on that damned kin they called the Human Race. And he knew her well enough to know that she meant what she said; he could even see her desperate mind looking for a way to fulfill the promise she had just spoken aloud.

"So be it, then, my beloved daughter, Athena, my Gray eyes. Remember what I say to you now: I know I will regret this, and remember as weel that I would even regret more if I let you destroy yourself. But I also know that _they_ will be your doom."

Her eyes were so full of peace now. "I know father. Thank you."

"Well, well, my dear, there will be, of course, consequences. Your prolongued absence has kept you from the news. Do you accept any condition that I impose on you, or them, in exchange of their going back? No, no" he put in, for her face was showing distress again, "no oath is expected of them, no damage is to be inflicted on them. That much I promise you. So, will you have them back?" .

She regained her former self, the immaculate, eternal godess. "I will".

Zeus stood up, walked up to her and kissed her soft cheek again, and she felt his scent of sandalwood. Then he walked up to his throne, and focused.

She felt her whole cosmo stirring, caught in his energy, but this time, as she went back to her mortal body, with all its injuries and pain, hope was once again with her.

Well, here the first part goes! ) Hope you like it, and certainly hope there are not many mistakes! (yeap, English is my 2nd language). This story was first posted in Spanish, as Voices in the dark (Voces en la oscuridad), with a few chapters issued, but something about it seemed not to be right, so I reinvented it. And I changed the language because, odd as it seems, for things like these it's easier for me to express myself in Eng.

Any reactions, either smirks or tomato – throwings, are welcomed to be reflected as reviews . Updates are to be expected soon, but then, inevitably, as classes start again, they will become more and more rare. Yep, tough life, that of us students.

My greetings to thee, oh, noble wordsgentlemen/ladies, who have made it this far,

Your faithful servant,

Niksa

Forever shall the wolf in me desire the sheep in you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: Into the wild **

_Bwana, bwana!_

Kiki sighed, letting down for the hundredth time whatever it was that the kids were trying to sell him, with the only two Swahili words he knew: _hapana, asante _(no thanks). A crowd of ebony people flooded the streets, their colourful outfits contrasting with the sober luxuty of the 5- stars hotels. But this is how it was like, in Kenya.

Strange business though, his coming to this beautiful land of contrasts. Once and for all, his training was over, he was now a saint with a Cloth of his own, and was free to do as he pleased. After all, the Wars were over. Of course, there were small duties to follow, to give a hand here, to fix this there, yes, we're meant to serve justice, yes, very proud, don't thank me, I'm here to help.

But this one he hadn't seen coming. To be sent to Africa? At first he thought Dokho meant for him to go as a missioner (was he _mental_? He was, after all, almost 300 years old), but then he exposed the whole thing. An old friend of him (old? Normal – old or Dokho old, Kiki had wondered) was in need of a helping hand. He had a few trainees, most of them had already got their Cloths, but they were having some trouble and would be glad to get one or two extra fists on their side. Kiki had accepted to go, of course (Sactuary was dull boring), but the matter was so elusive that he didn't know what to expect.

His companions were not a plus for the task, either. He had hardly managed to mask his disgust when he found Jabu was to be his companion: he was so full of himself that Kiki, knowing how little the Unicorn had helped in the Wars, could not understand how the young man managed to sustain his own inflated ego.

Well, at least he spoke, unlike the third member of the jolly group. Kiki glanced at the masked blonde girl who seemed to be gazing out through the dirty window of the 4x4 jeep. June was not much of a talker, and her mask give Kiki a chilly feeling. It was like looking the face of the Dead, as he imagined they would look like.

The jeep had finally left the crowded streets and was heading for the jungle. Kiki loathed travelling in a jerking piece of steel, but given their lack of knowledge on the place, there was no choice but to be led to the place in, to put it that way, the ordinary way.

At least, he was now having a good time. Looking through the windows, he peered into the sabanah; he caught glimpses of zebras, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, and many other creatures which names he did not know between the muddy splashes on the windows. He liked this land filled with life; it was so different from the deseted mountain he had grown and trained in. He thought they both had their own charm.

The journey prolongued for several hours, but the choking heat cast Kiki into a merciful sleep. He was awakened by June's soft touch on his shoulder. He shook his head, feeling rather refreshed, and leaped off the jeep.

After thanking the driver (a very black man with a blindingly white smile of perfect teeth, so cheerful and loud as they were silent), they stood still for a moment, stretching their numb limbs. Kiki fixed his astonished eyes upon the setting sun: he had never seen such a dusk. The ash – yellow sabanah seemed to have caught a static fire, and the jungle, first a luxurious green, was now glowing in a colour that seemed as grey – green as much as grey – violet. The animals laid down to enjoy the now cool breeze, and the carnivores started to turn to life.

He savoured the view for a while, but then he remember they had a task to fulfill and they had lost enough time already.

"Shall we get going?" he asked the other two. Strange as it was, even if they were his elders, he felt as he, with his scarce 15 years, was in charge. June's slender figure was laid against a crooked tree, and she nodded; Jabu was sitting on the lowest rocks of a granite peak protruding out of the ground in the middle of the sabanah.

"Take it easy kid, not all of us were lucky to take a nap" he said, swaying his hand back and forth about his head "man, what's with the danmed insects!"

Kiki felt that annoyance again. "They asked for help like a week ago, we are too late already" And with no more words, June and him started off into the jungle, followed by a reluctant Jabu. Luckily, his futile battle against the flies kept him busy, and his mouth shut. Kiki had had enough of his rambling along their walk through the city of Nairobi, until June had managed to shut him up. All of what they knew now, was that they had to go southwest, to a forgotten, inconvenient place for the tourists, stacked between two national parks.

Kiki looked up to the sky, which he hoped to use as a guide, and saw nothing but swaying branches of what seemed a thousand trees. With a deep sigh, he realised the race was going to be rather slower than he had expected.

Kozuki stood by the edge of the cliff and observed the long, meandering river running some tens of metres below. As the sun sank in the distant horizon, turning the sky golden, some animals retreated to their shelters as others came to life.

However, the river was at the moment nothing but a silver thread, since the water was condensed high above his head, in thick dark clouds that seemed to have formed out of nowhere. But that was the way the rain happened there, in that land of exhuberance; monzonic rain, meaning that after several months of draught it would be raining for another few months.

The dry soil was now anxious for the touch of water, and also the living creatures were. The first rain was an importat event, but this time he was not to witness it.

Doubt took over his mind once again. Was he right to leave, now that the attack was imminent? He wanted his apprentices to deal with it: he tried to regard it as just another test, another stage of their training that they _had_ to overcome. But still, he felt restless. He was leaving because it was not the first attack he had had known of, and the situation was starting to worry him. And he was leaving his pupils to fight against the very object of his distress.

He wondered if he had warned the Kyoko with anticipation enough for some help to come. Of course, he trusted his pupils, but what troubled him was the little knowledge _he_ had of the intruders. He knew nothing, actually, other than they seemed to have attacked two other training spots before. And not long ago.

A slight, cool breeze caressed his sun - tanned, sunken cheeks. He searched for Eman, his eyes finding nothing but a dark emerald leafy ocean. With a sigh, he leaned againt the nearest tree, suddenly undecided.

Kozuki was a tall, slender yet finely muscled man, with long lengs and elegant arms, covered now by a wide white crossed shirt. He had almost black hair, striked white, and a thin beard and moustache, the first reaching his breastbone. He looked stern yet peaceful, and he was one of those people who simply couldn't go unnoticed when going into a room. Aware of that, he had that kind, jolly personality that only those truly conscious of their power could bear.

But he felt sad now, as he watched the place he loved, a forgotten spot he had long ago chosen to call home. He had an ominous feeling that something about it was being threatened, that something was about to change.

Yet he had other duties apart from those concearning his pupils, and he knew he had waited too long already to fulfill them. He was starting to think he had been the only one to see a pattern in the latest events, faint as it was, but still preocupying...

With a reluctant smile, he straightened and set off, runnig swiftly and silently between the trees. Whomever was to try to make a scrath to this place, was going to have to deal with a quatrain of proud savages. The best ones he had ever trained.

The darkness was simply amazing. Since they had started walking into the trees, they had been able to see fewer and fewer ahead, until they were moving at a ridiculously slow speed, practically walking, touching the trunks with their hands and feeling the ground carefully with their feet. Kiki was aware that a whole herd of elephants could have walked past them without they noticing. Jabu had vividly complained, until a bunch of infuriated (or amused, Kiki couldn't tell) monkeys had showered him with what looked as fruits, then mud, then probably shit. He had been almost sure June had been smiling beneath her mask as she situated herself out of the reach of such lovely rain, but Jabu had yelled even loader, and the danger of being heard was well worth seeing the Unicorn scowling and rising his clenched fist to a group of invisible hairy apes.

Kiki was sure it was early in the night, but still there might be a few hour's walk left, since they had to enter a rather inaccesible area and this far they had had quite an easy way. He climbed a tree to take a look at the sky, but he saw nothing but a thick carpet of lead – coloured clouds. Yet, he could see a few hundreds of meters ahead a sharp, high cliff, which (he hoped) was the one they were suppoused to climb. With a sigh, he made his way through the thick foliage back to the ground, resigned to keep walking.

They found no difficulty in climbing the cliff (June's whip proved to be very useful), and after that they enjoyed a short sprint, as since the ground was rocky, the trees were not as densly packed as they had been below. Yet before long, they were again stepping carefully between fat trunks, in the darkness.

But just when Kiki was starting to get bored again, they noticed a change. They saw or heard nothing, but with brief, silent messages between their cosmos they agreed that the air seemed to have gone... thicker. This slowed them even more, for they needed to keep an eye (which they could hardly manage to do, with all the trunks, branches, leaves and who knew what else, hanging around them) in a pitch black darkness.

Yet they went on for another a couple of hours, and nothing happened. The Moon had rised and was shining in an unclouded spot in the sky, and they were able to pick up some speed. With no warning, they run into a clearing, and there they stood frozen. Kiki's eyes were suddenly caught by a distant glow, and as he saw a thick spiral of smoke raising to the grayish sky, he understood they were too late. A fire had been set ablaze some miles ahaead, in the same direction where they were suppoused to find Eman, the town they were headed to. June crouched and listened for a second, and then gestured them to hide back between the trees. They heard some distant voices, which seemed to be crying or yelling.

Kiki was thankful to see Jabu followed them without a sound. Tense and silent, they remained in the shadows and waited. Kiki wondered what kind of threat they were to face; if he had known, Dokho had't told them.

Suddenly he heard muffled steps, and the soft sound of leaves slithering againt something. Then a group of about a dozen men walked into the clearing. They were dressed in dark garments, and narrowing his eyes Kiki saw these were rather tight around the men's bodies. Their faces were covered or painted, too, and the only thing he could see clearly in the darkness was their eyes.

Those men moved cautiously and rather silently, and they stood still but tense, as though they were expecting something. Yet they showed not fear nor distress.

A few minutes went by like this, and the men started to relax as they heard some more distant screaming.

"Shouldn't it be over by now?" – one of the men asked. Startled, Kiki realised he had not noticed the man was sitting merely metres away from them; they were clearly trained to move silently and swiflty in the shadows. He was surprised they hadn't spotted them, for the Saints were wearing their shining Cloths; and by the twitch June made by his side, he knew she was thinking the same. Were this people the good or the bad ones?

"It _is _over, we were told to get rid of the black haired one – the rest didn't matter" – another man, leaning aganist a tree, had spoken aloud. Kiki could barely make out his outline, but he saw a pink line when the man's lips parted as he spoke.

"So what are we waiting for? Were we meant to burn the whole place?"

"Not necessarily, it was a distraction. But the big ones should show up before we take off. You know, they want to check no Cloths or any other armors are left to be assigned to a warrior. Plus they said this place might be useful if they could take over it. You know, it is rather inaccesible, and they said some kind of power dwelled here".

"Whatever. I just want to leave, the bugs and the heat are bad enough to add some stupid wait for them to come and do their thing"

Kiki held back a gasp just in time. The men kept rambling on, but he didn't listen. Something had passed just by his side, but so quickly and so silently that he saw and felt nothing. He precieved more than felt that the ferns by his arm had shifted.

He tried to focus on the men again, but they had fallen silent, and Kiki understood why. Out of nowhere, a strong and menacing energy had filled the place. Faint as mist at first, but invisible, it became thicker and thicker, as it formed itself out of thin air and condensed upon the clearing. Kiki saw the men shifting to defensive stances, as that energy (was it an aura? Kiki couldn't even tell if it was human) started to whirl and twitch until they could almost see it. Slowly but surely, it went from threat to anger, and then rage, and it became stronger to the point the men were desperalety searching for the source of that vibe.

But suddenly it dimmed, and it expanded beyond the clearing. It was still threatening, but now it was so subtle that noone would have noticed it if it hadn't made such an entrance. Yet now it was entwining with ever living creature, sliding into, joining and impersoning each tree, animal, insect or bush, making them seem a whole organism, threatening and severe, and tense to the point of seeming charged with electricity. The men seemed to be threatened and cornered by the same jungle they had been freely runnig through minutes ago.

And then it attacked.

Something dark was suddenly beating the man closest to the trees, and before a second it thrashed upon a second man, and a third. Kiki let out a gasp that went unherad, for the men in the clearing were fighting against what seemed chaos, for they could't distinguish their foe more than the hidden Saints did. Yet there was a sudden pause, and Kiki saw more than half the dark – dressed men were lying on the floor. The reamaining ones had grouped in the center of the open spot, back to back, facing the obscurity surrounding them. But the energy mocked them, and circled them even closer.

And the second attack came from the air, and this time Kiki saw a definitely human figure falling upon the remaining men, and how it almost lazily took one by the face and smashed his head against the ground. Then it kicked a second one, and elbowed his neck when he fell on his knees. Soon all of the men had been disposed of, without a single flash of the attacker's cosmo, and the clearing was empty but for the limp bodies and the tall, dark yet small figure, still standing and silent.

Kiki realised that that woman (for now he could see it was a woman the one who stood in front of them) was wearing an armour of some kind, but it was so closely attached to her body that nothing but the shoulder protections protruded from her outline. As he watched her, the invisible energy that had soaked the place retreated and folded over itself, until trees were barely trees, animals where nothing but animals, the sounds returned to the jungle, and the aura finally dissapeared.

Then the lonely figure turned around and stared right into their hiding place.

"Come out please" – a girl's deep voice asked calmly.

Kiki stared at his companions, wide – eyed. His mind racing, he thought what was best to be done, but then he saw June stand up and walk into the clearing. With a second's delay, Jabu and him followed.

The girl observed them with what seemed to be curiosity, given that her head was slightly tilted. Kiki could not make out her face or her Cloth, but he spotted long hair and an oval white face. She was about his height, but smaller in frame. Her attention seemed to go from June, whose mask seemed to disturb her, to Jabu's proud, defiant eyes, and finally to Kiki's. He instantly felt it when her eyes met his (she seemed to have a better vision in the dark than they had), and then they went to her forehead, as most people's eyes did. She stared at her hair for a moment, and then she looked at them again, still silent.

"Are you a trainee of this training spot?" asked Jabu. Kiki was pleased to see he was behaving.

The girl nodded "I was." Kiki caught a slight amusement in the girl's voice, for she clearly had completed her training since she was wearing a Cloth. "Are you the Sains of Athena, from Sanctuary?"

It was a strange way to ask it, Kiki thought, and he noticed the girl was staring at him, waiting for a reply.

"We are; I am Bronze Aries Kiki, this is Chamaleon June, and Unicorn Jabu. Is there anything we can do, if there is still time?" he thought there was no point in delaying the subject, or in pretending they had arrived in time.

The girl seemed to meditate his words, but then her attention seemed to whirl away. She looked upon her shoulder, in the direction of the burning town, and then strightened again, but with her eyes rather unfocused. She whispered something and Kiki realized her aura was stretching into the jungle, mingling with the trees and plants, and he understood it had been her energy the one they had felt before, only that now it was devoid of feeling. It was still invisible.

She seemed to be impregnating the jungle as she did before, eagerly, easily, but then there was a clash and a sudden white flash that blinded them all. Her energy seemed to have been repelled. She stood still and stiff, her fists clenched tightly now, her energy reflecting outrage and urge.

"No" she whispered between gritted teeth, and still distant and distracted she spoke to them "There is something you might do, if you will"

"We were sent for that. But won't you identify yourself?" Jabu interjected before Kiki could answer.

The girl stared fixedly at the Unicorn, then said "My name is Minea"

There was a silence as they expected the corresponding title (Kiki was sure she was wearing a Cloth) but it never came.

"Where is your mask?" Asked June this time, and they saw the girl's teeth as she smiled and answered "I don't need it".

"Is the people in town all right?" Kiki felt the need to stick to more urgent subjects, and he was suddenly aware that a town full of defenceless people was burning as they chatted the night away.

The girl seemed to follow the same line of thought, for she went stiff again and nodded "We have a shelter, and all of the townspeople are there"

"So no serious damage has been made?" Kiki asked, hoping they might have arrived it time anyway. But for the first time Minea's steady figure seemed to falter, and she took her time to answer "We lost one"

"I'm sorry" Kiki said, but the girl acted as if she haven't heard. "Did he fall fighting against the intruders?" he asked, suddenly realising he didin't even know if there had been any intruders at all.

"No, _she_ was _murdered_ when the intruders were running away" the girl replied with a controlled calm voice "One of them had managed to hide from us" she finished. Kiki couldn't but think that one must have been skilled if he had managed to hide from that girl, and wondered where he was now. "He has been taken care of" Minea added, once again following Kiki's thoughts. "Come on, let's get going" she said, and sprinted into the trees. The Saints jerked and followed her hurriedly, but soon they had lost track.

"Hey, wait! Girl! What was her name?" Jabu growled, annoyed to find himself lost among the dark trees again. But they slowly felt a difference in the place; what had been noisy yet peaceful was now silent and tense. There seemed to be a struggle, between two invisible yet opossed forces, confrontindg each oter, pushing, gaining ground, entwining with the living creatures, from the mightiest to the smallest. It seemed as if the very jungle was being possesed by a lone spirit again, by a spirit that was carelessly reaplacing the original energy, which resisted and pushed against the other but, slowly, faltered.

"What is going on in this place" Jabu wondered aloud, as a chill took over them all. But then Minea reappeared silently and out of nowhere again, betwen two particularly crooked trees. "Sorry. Shall we go again?" and this time she went at a reasonable speed for them to follow, but it took them more than an hour, at that speed, to get to Eman.

It was located in a slightly elevated area in the middle of a wide sabanah, but unlike the one they had seen from the jeep, this open space had no golden high grass, but neat fields ready for the sowing, and beyond, low scattered bushes over a yellow grassy area. Far ahead, there was what seemed to be a dry river.

But right in front of them, stood what must have been a pretty town. Kiki saw it consisted of about a hundred lovely houses, many painted white, but also many painted in cheerful colours; as Minea guided him through the deserted, narrow streets, he saw scattered things and the smoking remainings of the burnt houses. People seemed to have rushed away, leaving everything as it was, and so things had remained. He felt a quickly repressed gust of sadness in the girl's cosmos, as her eyes seemed to sweep the town.

Soon they arrived to a rather wide open place, and Kiki understood it was the center of the town, probably where people gathered, traded, celebrated, discussed serious business, lived. It was now covered with burnt logs and debris, and a few scattered bowls and cloths. From there, Kiki could see what must be the shelter, a strong, solid shed, built upon thick pillars, about ten meters above the ground. He suspected it was the place where people had gone for refuge, since there were some dim lights inside.

The girl looked around, searching for something; apparently not finding it, she sighed and gestured them to sit on a partly burnt log. She sat comfortably on the ground, with her legs crossed, and listened to the quiet night for a moment.

"Too bad you had to see it like this. It is usually beautiful. In this time of year, right between the seeding and the rain, a fire is lit and music is played." She gave a soft chuckle "Well, perhaps this time the fire was too much" she said, looking sadly at the messy nearby houses. Since noone spoke, she went on "This town, Eman, was built almost by chance. Some decades ago, some Muslim women who had escaped from their homes, were they were mistreated, in particularly strict Muslim countries, established here for it was a forgotten place located between national parks. As they found a freshwater source nearby, some scientists soon followed, given this place was comfortable an conveniently isolated for thier studies. Most stayed only for a while, but others seemed to grow fond of the place and stayed. And then, some other people who were tired of everythig, some rich, some desperately poor, arrived here more or less by chance and decided to stay too. Finally, although this is not a touristic spot, a rather stable population established here in this town. When I came here, I thought they should have called it Babylon, for you could see pale Nordic blondes, straight haired chinise, ebony black giants, German, English, French, Arabian speakers, etc. All kinds of people live here, and they coexist peacefully, even happily I dare to say" Suddenly aware of her dreamy voice, she laughed rather sheepeishly and added "Sorry if I make it sound like a tale, but it is rather common for us to retell things like this. But I wanted you to know something about the place you are protecting."

At this, Jabu leaned forward, and June straigthened. Kiki asked "So, you need us to stay here and guard this place?"

"Yes, that would be very helpful" she said, and Kiki saw now a tired face upon her. "I don't think they'll come back, but as I don't know what they really wanted... better be prevented"

"But what happened here? Why did they attack? And who was it?" Jabu asked impatiently.

The girl looked at him for a second, then she stood and looked away, distracted as she had been in the clearing. Then she shook her head, frowning, and turned to them. "We had barely time to tell the people to shelter. We felt something coming, somehting which was making itself rather obvious; it was some kind of cosmos, which covered the entire jungle. You see, we are... we were four trainees, plus our Master, and each one of us looked after a part of the jungle, for it is too huge to be regarded by one sole person. But they set fire to the town, and to the Maasai camp to the East"

The Maasai. Kiki remembered having heard about them, an African tribe of tall, highly jumping men, cattle keepers, who dressed in red and blue and carried loads of colourful necklaces. They were warriors, and they kept practising ancient ceremonies, such as drinking the blood picked right out of a cut on a cow's yugular. He couldn't but feel slightly dissapointed that he hadn't seen them.

Minea smiled at his marvelled expression, then went on: "Well, we had a bunch of places to cover, and as our Master had left a few days ago, and all the places were attacked simultaneously, we were a little overwhelmed. We stopped all the fires rather quickly, which was lucky for we are in the harsher moment of the draught; and to our surprise, they retreated. We chased them but, as you saw, there were no big deal. It was a rather stupid attackl" The girl went thoughtful for a while, and in the silence Kiki could't but notice her voice was oddly musical, though it had a very strange accent he couldn't quite make out. Then her face became suddenly stern and harsh. "But now, after they killed Hitomi, they are trying to force us out of here. You see, whenever a person gains an armour here, a bond is established with the place, if it hadn't been established beforehand. This is our home, and we won't let alien energies disturb its balance"

She stopped suddenly, for an odd procession was approaching them. A tall young man, who was clearly wearing a cloth, lead the way of a few men who carried some sort of light bed. Guessing what it was, Minea took air in sharply, and stood frozen. Kiki looked at the men, marveled to see that, as she had said, he could see a tall, heavy built blonde man, a thin and slender male with oriental features, and two black men carring the bed. A few more followed, with some women who carried linen and pots.

As they drew closer, they stayed away at a respectful distance, not to expose the fallen girl's dead body to strangers. Minea seemed unable to move, and in the light of the lamps that people carried she seemed almost green. But she walked forward, with nothing of her former steadry stance but almost reluctantly. She went into the half – crumbled house where the body had been left. Kiki saw her kneel by the bed, which now rested over a table, and take one of the body's limp hand. She seemed then to kiss the body's cheek softly, and Kiki wished he hadn't looked, for the girl seemed clearly uncomfortable. She moved away clumsily and stood by the man with the Cloth, and he seemed to speak softly to her. Kiki noticed he was very tall, almost a head taller that the girl. But he leaned forward, took her face in his hands and put her forehead against hers, as she laid, too, her pale hands upon his shoulders. They stood still, apparently whispering to each other, as the rest of the procession resumed their walking and entered another house, closing the door behind them. Kiki thought they were going to prepare the girl for the burial.

Unexpactedly, there was a flash of light from the jungle, far to the south; and both Minea and the young man jumped and tensed. They mumbled something, and then, picking up a lamp, the tall boy walked up to them, pluged the lamp in a socket on a post of the open area where they stood, and turned it on.

He turned to them and examined them in detail, as Minea had done in the darkness. But this time Kiki could see him too, and Minea was slowly aproaching, a devastated look upon her face.

The man was very young, yet very tall, and was wearing a brilliant red, slender Cloth, which seemed to have been desinged for agility and power, in balance. He wore no helmet or head protection of the sort, revealing a furiously red hair, which fell, straight, in thin tendrils over his forehead down to his eyes, and to the sides of his face, and slightly below the shoulders behind the head, though he had carelessly tied it back. He had a penetrating, brilliant gaze, and his eyes were dark green, contrasting with the blonde eyelashes. Pale and high – cheek – boned, he had gentle yet strong, well defined features, and a thin face and lips. He was quite big framed, but he wasn't muscled in excess; he gave an impression of speed and strength.

Kiki felt that he liked him; he sensed, below the grieving face the young man had at the moment, and beyond the tired, bent – forward shoulders, a restless, fiery and cheerful spirit, the kind of person he felt comfortable with.

Then he looked at he girl, Minea, who was patiently waiting for her friend's inspection of the Saints to finish. She was looking to a side, still searching the jungle with her eyes. She had long, heavy hair, that might have had very slight wawes had it been somewhat shorter. It was very dark, but undoubtedly brown; it looked like polished wood. The skin, though, was very pale, in fact, white, but oddly it did not give her that sickly air so common amongst very pale people. In fact, she seemed to irradiete liveliness, even now she was gloomy and thoughtful. She was tall, both for a girl and for a boy, and as her companion she issued an image of restrained power and merciless speed. Her hair was thin and irregularly cut, some locks carelessly falling over her forehed and cheeks, and growing wilder and longer to the back. When she turned to look at them, Kiki saw a beautiful face, with thin, pale, delicaltely curved lips, a straight nose, dark eyebrows and eyelashes and soft yet clearly outlined features. But what was really shocking was the colour of her eyes, the most intense indigo he had ever seen, and a look so deep and farfetching as her companion's was piercing. It was as if her hair and eyes had concentrated all the colour, leaving none for her skin.

"Well, glad you cared to join to the party" a low, resonant voice came from the male. "My name's Zacchary, but please call me Zack, I'm not to pay for my mother's lack of taste" he said with a grin. "You are saints, aren't you?" The same weird accent of the girl. "Well, I'm one too, though I've never been to the place"

Kiki introduced himself and his companions again, and his words were followed by silence.

"He won't come, will he?" the girl finally said.

Zack looked dreamily away, into the jungle. "Don't think so. Not here, at least"

Minea shook her hear, annoyed and tired. "Fucking spoiled prat" she muttered, and Zack grinned bitterly at her. "So, are we going for it, sister?"

Kiki looked at him, startled. Sister? Since when did brothers train toghether? Plus, they weren't very alike, though it was possible that they were related, both pale, both slender...

Minea smiled playfully, and crossed her arms "Aren't you worried that we're not up to the situation?"

"Well, in that case... we'll go a little wilder" Zack turned to them, and gave June an interested look. "So you really have to wear masks. What a pity" he said, light heartily, as Minea grinned and shook her head. "If a young man called Caleb shows up here, would you tell him to do what he must?" he said to Kiki, looking sideways to June, rather dissapointed he had aroused no reaction from her. "And if we fail" he said, more sternly now, " would you please leave at once and look for our Master, the Sensei Kozuki? He'll know what to do, even if we don't" he finished with a low voice.

"But what are you going to do?" asked Jabu before Kiki coud make the very same question.

"Restore the balance. Put things back in their place" Minea answered, standing still and pulling back her hair, as a wolfish grin took over her face. "In a word, kick this bastards out of out home" Zack added cheerfully, standing up straight.

"Thank you very much for your help. Do not hesitate to take down anyone who comes nearby the town, and if it turned to be Caleb... well, oops." After Minea's farewell words, both her and Zack suddenly dashed in different directions, and in a matter of seconds got lost in the jungle.

"Rather weird people, huh?" finally Jabu spoke, right after the boy and girl were lost in the sea of trees. June said nothing, and Kiki couldn't truly disagree. They climbed to the roof of one of the highest houses, trying to get a wider look of the place. Their little chat had distracted them from the jungle, and Kiki was amazed to see that the odd, hungry energy that had been taking over the trees and creatures had practically succeded. But suddenly, far to the east a scarlet flare seemed to push away the darker energy. It was so strong that Kiki could feel its imposing power, and he could feel how the living creatures surrender to its touch.

But what was that? What were they doing? He had never known of such ways of the cosmo. What was the point in forcing plants and animlas under one's will? And how did they do it, anyway?

Another flash of light, from the west this time. A white, blinding cosmo had shone, and was now a wawe – like strenght, pale and determined, that was stretching itself from where it had first appeared.

There were two spots which issued energy, now, and Kiki could identify Zack and Minea's cosmos in them. They were trying to gain ground over the other energy, the alien one, that seemed to act rather differently than theirs. While the scarlet and white auras entwined with the creatures eagerly, willingly, the other one kept pushing itself into it, forcing acceptance and moving quickly on. But Kiki could see that soon the expansion of the trainees energies slowed, as they were now trying to embrace a rather extensive area. Around the edges of their reach, their cosmos were faltering and dimming, and the darker energy clashed repeatedly against them.

Kiki had barely had time to be astonished about this fistless struggle, when a third, silver, powerful yet rather devoid energy added to the quarrel. It expanded rapidly, gaining almost as much area as the other two, which, as though encouraged by this apparently unexpected help, were frocefully gaining speed once again. The Saints watched, suddenly aware of the ominous silence, as the three auras spread themselves to the fullest, their edges finally meeting. A dim creaky sound made them turn, and they saw several people coming out of the shed to watch. As the auras met, their edges started to fuse; the scarlet and the white easily, the silver one more slowly.

Almost all of the jungle was now glowing red, silver or white, and as the energies fused and stretched to the fullest, finally casting the invading cosmo away, there was a sudden gust of wind and the whole jungle glowed yellow. Then, as the townspeople mumbled exitedly and the eerie glow vanished, darkness reigned once again, and slowly, as the jungle became a just a jungle again, the bird's chirps, the monkey's screams, the wind's rustle, the water's slithery sound and the distant sound of thunder filled the overwhelming silence.

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Sorry if this turned out a little weird...


End file.
